But among the Soviet temperance posters the most iconic is undoubtedly the one created by I. Govorkov in 1954, when the anti-alcohol campaign, after twenty-five year interval, flared up again after Stalin’s death.

The haute école of Laconic conciseness. Someone (1) eating (2) refuses with a decisive gesture (3) the alcohol offered (4) and the caption with a single word makes unambiguous the message (5). Let us see what a Baroque richness the Russian soul is able to exploit from this concise meme. From the nearly hundred paraphrases over the Russian web I present only those two dozens which are more or less understandable without knowing your way around the labyrinth of Russian internal affairs.

It is not about the quantity, as you would think at first glance, but the assumed direction of displacement of the glass! – No se trata de negarse por cantidad, como se podría pensar a primera vista, sino del peligroso desequilibrio de la pirámide.

No! I do not eat bears! – A meme-in-the-meme, to show how many references are included in a Russian joke. We have already referred to the “preved-medved” meme which has its own universe of meanings, and we have promised to analyze it in detail. We will keep our promise. – No. No como osos. Un meme–dentro–del–meme, para mostrar cuántas referencias puede incluir una broma rusa. Ya nos hemos referido al «Preved-Medved» meme, que tiene su propio universo de significados, y nos hemos comprometido a analizarlo en detalle. Mantenemos la promesa.

The rejected mind-altering is the St. George Ribbon, which is worn on the feast of the victory over Hitler – Lo que se rechaza con este gesto alterado es la Cinta de San Jorge, usada en la fiesta de la victoria sobre Hitler.

I do not take it without polonium! – The example of Alexander Litvinenko shows that it is easy to get used to the best – ¡Yo no bebo sin polonio! - El ejemplo de Alexander Litvinenko demuestra qué fácil es acostumbrarse a lo mejor.

President Lukashenko: Belorussia is not for sale! – Presidente Lukashenko: ¡Bielorrusia no está en venta!

The United Russia (the governing party): “Just stay at home, we will fill it out!”

I have not seen any either. But in Tehran intellectual society alcohol is so much present, both physically and in everyday talk, that one would assume there is at least some official propaganda against it. But it is also possible that authorities consider it simpler to close their eyes.

no closing of eyes - alcohol is banned and when the law is violated there are harsh punishments (lashes, imprisonment or worse) - only recognized non muslims are allowed to 'private' consumptionhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14939866http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Iranian-man-sentenced-to-death-for-drinking-alcohol/269346/

Yes, I know this. But in my experience, alcohol is so heavily distributed and consumed in northern Tehran – and your first link also confirms that at least 80 million liters of alcohol per year are smuggled into the country – that it is certainly not possible without the authorities’ closing their eyes.

Great post indeed! A couple of corrections: "they ostensively drank milk" should be "they ostentatiously drank milk," and "Better to be the victim of a Nazist than of a faggot” should be "Better to drink with a Nazi [or, better, "fascist," for the sake of alliteration] than a faggot" (забухать, like almost all Russian verbs, has the slang sense 'drink alcohol').

Nice images! (Although I'm afraid to share this post more widely for fear of offending people with some of its objectionable homophobic and nazi-themed images). In Russia's crude popular lore, of course, it's been always assumed that the young hero of the original poster was gay.

The real role of the image was, of course, not to glorify tee-totaling, but exactly the opposite, to cement the drinking nation bravado: Drink with us! Only the pathetic weirdos refuse! That's why it's so commonly used on shot-glasses nowadays.

For comparison, it's extremely hard to find a likeness of the Mormon Temple on a shot glass, even in this state where it adorns all sorts of tourist mementos.

Indeed, my wife had the same fear, but I said her that by omitting the objectionable versions I would convey a false image of the popular culture which has created these pictures. Your insider’s comment just reinforces my opinion.